Alphabet ≫ Jarchie

J is for Janiform

Janiform— having two faces

☁︎☀︎☁︎

The love they had was warm, yet cold and fleeting. It was on and off, never permanent, and never stable. It was a lie disguised in electric pulses and covered up with kisses and momentary bliss.

Jughead hated it. Every time Archie left, he spent weeks on end going off about how he wasn't going to be that guy. He wasn't going to be sitting by the phone, waiting for Archie to call, and he wasn't just going to let him have his way with him every time he found his way back to his apartment.

Yet, when Archie buzzed up to his apartment at random times of the night after days of silence, Jughead always gave in and let him come up. Archie had a way of reminding him why their love was worth it, though Jughead wasn't sure if he could call it that. Passion wasn't love. Passion burned out as quickly as looks did.

Love was supposed to stay for eternity.

Archie could barely stay the entire night.

But the way the redhead touched him made him feel important. It made him forget about all the wrongdoings and little details when they were in their zone. When Archie kissed him from head to toe Jughead couldn't even recall the days of the week, let alone how toxic their love was.

One morning, Jughead woke up next to Archie.

That was a first.

Usually, their nights stopped around 3am. Archie would waltz in, spin some stupid apology and sit down at Jughead's lonely kitchen table. He'd charmingly try to catch up, talking vaguely about where he'd been, and asking Jughead about what he'd been up to.

The compliments would start there. He'd start small. He'd say Jughead looked beautiful under the moonlight from the window or that the apartment looked good. Then he'd say something about how the universe must've brought them together. It was fate. Archie always made sure to remind Jughead that he was lucky to host him. That was the important part.

From there, he'd go in for the kill.

"Nothing can ever keep me away from you long enough, my love." That was his favorite line.

Jughead fell for it every single time.

He was lonely. He lived in an apartment all by himself with no one to share it with. He believed in love at first sight cliches. He believed in horoscopes and compatibility. He was a hopeless romantic in a desperate position. If Archie was using him, he didn't see a problem in using Archie too.

After the line, Archie would continue to take the lead. He knew how to make Jughead feel good, always did. He knew how to get him into his bed.

He knew how to make him forget about how one-sided and two-faced their love was. It was fake. A gimmick. They both knew it.

Jughead let Archie tell him he loved him anyways.

It felt nice not to be lonely.

And Jughead let Archie make love to him anyways.

It felt so nice to be touched.

By 3am, Archie would leave. He'd kiss Jughead on the forehead and promise to call but he never did. Jughead would go back to sulking about it for a week, feeling sorry for himself.

If their love had a zodiac sign, it'd be a Gemini.

This time though, Archie was still there when Jughead woke up. It was 9am on a Saturday morning. The sun was shining and he had woken up to soft snores and eyelashes tickling his cheeks.

At first he was confused. He was frozen in place, staring at the wall in front of him.

He'd never woken up next to a man before.

Then the hesitation and confusion began to melt away, and he was left with a comforting sight.

He had woken up next to a man.

A few minutes later, Archie began to stir. He batted his eyelashes and looked up at Jughead's apprehensive gaze. Jughead was happy, but scared. Those few seconds of silence left him on the edge of the seat. Was Archie going to leave again? Somehow, it would hurt more if he left in daylight, ruining what looked like a beautiful day.

"Babe, what's your zodiac sign?" Archie asked after a while. It seemed like such an irrelevant question to ask at a time like this.

"Virgo," Jughead answered shyly. "You're a Gemini aren't you? It would explain a lot."

Archie chuckled, the vibrations rippling across Jughead's skin. "Aren't we not compatible or something?"

"We're not," Jughead hesitated. "Which also explains a lot."

A silence settled over the two again, but they didn't make an effort to move. Archie seemed content on staying for once.

"So are you still planning on leaving?" Jughead asked awkwardly. He didn't want to ruin the moment, but he also didn't want it to continue any longer if it was just going to be taken away from him in a flash.

"Let's not think about that. What do you want to do today? I'm all yours," Archie said softly. He sat up in bed and shot the taller man a gentle smile.

"Seriously?" Jughead asked, raising an eyebrow. It all seemed too good to be true.

"Yeah. Why not?"

That's how they ended up at a park, walking slowly and talking excitedly as autumn leaves trickled down from the sky. Jughead learned that he could love this man. It was probably the way he talked. His sentences were jumpy. He'd cut to different topics out of nowhere, forgetting about one story and moving on to the next. Jughead couldn't wait to teach him how to tell stories properly. He was erratic, a stormy ocean that Jughead felt he had to tame.

But perhaps that wasn't love.

Or maybe it was the way Archie handled things. He ordered ice cream for him, guessing the flavor that his love would like. Sure, he got it wrong, but it was the thought that counts. And when a woman they were walking past asked where he got his hat from, Archie felt the need to speak for him despite knowing the answer. Jughead was a wise old owl that Archie felt he had to silence.

But perhaps that wasn't love either.

They wanted to believe it was though.

Their date ended well enough. Archie dropped Jughead back to the apartment, kissed him on the forehead, and promised to call.

The raven haired beauty didn't trust the redhead. He knew there wasn't going to be a phone call.

He laid in bed that night considering the difference between love and passion, compromise and resignation. Did he want Archie because he was lonely or did he want Archie because of the qualities that made up Archie? He could never answer that question before, but now he knew.

The next morning, Archie called.

Jughead didn't answer.

☁︎☀︎☁︎

I don't really like this one too much but it was really hard to find an interesting J word so meh not my best but not totally awful. Can't all be hits

I started school today and it really sucks. I have periods in a school day. I have classes the first three, then 5 off periods in a row, but I can't leave school because of course I have a class the last period. So my day is full of doing nothing 🤦🏾‍♀️ I can't do this all year. I'm probably gonna drop my last class. But my last class is journalism.